1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to countertop production and then also the resultant countertop as a product.
2. Prior Art
The following discussion considers the counter and/or countertop production from the context of remodeling jobs. This is done so not for limiting the invention but for convenience only in this discussion because the inventor's experience is predominantly in this context. However, the issues discussed below apply comparably to new construction as well.
That said, a homeowner's remodeling options from the prior art have to date included FORMICA®, CORIAN®, tile, marble, granite and chemically-stained concrete.
FORMICA® is the lowest cost option, partly because countertops are simply resurfaced rather than having the counter totally refurbished. In that fashion, FORMICA® is simply used to cover over the original countertop, which of course eliminates the work of tearing out the counter. The shortcomings of FORMICA® include its vulnerability to being marked by scratches as well as burns. Also, FORMICA® does not really achieve a high-end classic look.
CORIAN® is an improvement over FORMICA® toward achieving a high-end decorative look, but as can be expected, it is costlier because of that. Typically a remodeling job with CORIAN® requires tearing off and junking the original counter, which includes tearing off the wood or MDF (or whatever) substrate. CORIAN® has to be ordered according to measurements taken on the job-site, and then produced in slabs at fabrication sites remote from the job-site, not deliverable to the job-site until factory-ready. Only then, after delivery, can the CORIAN® slabs be installed. During remodeling jobs, homeowners may have to wait weeks after the pre-existing counter is torn down and measurements are taken before the job can be completed, all because of waiting on delivery from the factory. Since CORIAN® slabs are set in tile fashion next to one another, there are consequently seams. Typically seams between CORIAN® slabs are grouted or caulked. CORIAN® generally lasts better than FORMICA® because it is not as vulnerable to being marked by scratches or burns. Nevertheless, the grouted seams between CORIAN® slabs have to be properly sealed and perhaps re-sealed, and even then cared for and looked after as time extends.
Tile has all kinds of inherent issues involved with it. A remodeling job requires tearing off all the original counter, which includes its substrate, because the substrate has to be replaced with a fresh and clean, hardy backer-board for supporting the tile. Hence, the workers or installers have to tear out the original counter, build a new substrate, trowel on a thin undercoat, lay in the tile pieces, and then let things dry. After drying, the seams are grouted, let dry, sealed, let dry, re-sealed and then perhaps the job is done. The tile look has had and likely always will have its ardent fans. Nevertheless, common shortcomings with aging tile counters include shrinkage of grout in one seam or another (of the usually quite extensive interlaced network of such seams), or else the wiggling loose of a lone piece of tile in its socket, it somehow (as is commonplace over time) having loosened free from its undercoat and grout anchorage.
Marble and granite produce a look for counters that can flat out awe and amaze, yet as expected there is a corresponding cost for that. Replacement jobs with marble and granite follow a fairly similar procedure as with CORIAN®. Briefly, the procedure is messy and slow. The homeowner not able to live in all of the kitchen for at least a week. Again, the pre-existing counter has to be torn out, measurements have to be taken at the job-site, then slabs have to be ordered from remote shops where the slabs are sized and finished. The pre-existing counter is usually torn off right down to the cabinet top, which includes tearing off the substrate. From the time the tear-off job starts and until the job is completed, the whole remodeling job can take a week or two. The slabs have to be received at the site, installed, the seams have to be grouted or otherwise caulked. And then the slabs-and-seams have to be sealed and re-sealed. Although the public is more widely informed about this as a shortcoming of marble's, it is news to many that granite can be marred by scratches or stains. Hence granite and marble alike require some delicacy in use and periodic re-application of sealant over time.
In addition to all the above options, the prior art includes concrete counter/countertops. There are two significantly different approaches for doing a concrete job. One approach involves pouring the concrete in-place, typically right on top of the pre-existing countertop. Workers build low dams around the edges. Concrete for the pour is mixed in a wheelbarrow or else brought in by a truck that backs up to a window to pump it in. Either way, concrete is poured onto the dammed up counter. Indeed, since concrete is typically poured in to a depth at minimum of about two inches (˜5 cm), it often makes sense to have a truck brought to the job-site and pump it in from there.
Generally a homeowner would desire the concrete countertop to be seamless, but experienced contractors sometimes put in seams to break up certain expansive spreads because otherwise shrinkage during drying will cause cracks. The concrete is allowed to harden part way to full cure (ie., about a day or two) before workers grout seams. The homeowner is asked to live lightly in the kitchen during the month (ie., twenty-eight days) it takes for the concrete to reach full cure. That is, the homeowner is advised not to spill out juice or grease—or anything stain-causing—onto the curing concrete. Only after full cure is it prudent to start grinding and polishing radiuses, in fact polishing over the whole pour. Then after that detail work is completed, the workers can at that time undertake the steps of stain, seal and re-seal and so on until done.
For all the all time and trouble (and mess), concrete countertops are capable of being rendered into truly awesome and attention-stopping structures. They are also, however, massive. They look like, and are, relatively thick slabs of concrete rendered as counters.
In contrast to the foregoing, the significantly different other approach to doing a concrete counter involves pouring concrete slabs at remote sites and then, after the month long cure (as well as staining and sealing process), delivering the slabs to the site for final installation. At some original time, workers tear out the pre-existing counter, take measurements for the concrete-slab replacement, return to their remote shop and build molds for the separate slabs. Concrete is then poured into the molds and allowed to cure. After curing, the separate slabs are extracted and flipped over from their top-side-down orientation in the molds, and then polished, stained, sealed and re-sealed and so on, in the shop. Ultimately the completed slabs are delivered to the job-site, laid in-place, and grouted together to fill in the seams between the separate slabs.
By either approach to doing concrete jobs, homeowners typically face a month long ordeal during which their kitchen is substantially knocked out of service. In spite of that, many do put up with the inconvenience of mess and time because as said, concrete counters can be admired as awesome. For better or worse, concrete counters are massive things too.
What is needed is an improvement which overcomes various shortcomings of the various prior art options.